


a bitter taste in my mouth

by ordinarylittleme



Category: Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Genre: Cousins, Gen, Jealousy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-14
Updated: 2019-06-14
Packaged: 2020-05-07 17:43:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19214362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ordinarylittleme/pseuds/ordinarylittleme
Summary: victory and defeat are synonymous to her now.





	a bitter taste in my mouth

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Alexia247](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alexia247/gifts).



for her whole life, emily young has hated leah clearwater. she knows it's wicked to do so - to loathe someone of your flesh and blood so much that you revel in the thought of their pain, satisfied in your superiority now.  
but how can she _not_? yes, leah treats her nicely. yes, leah never says a word against her. but emily knows too well what a pretty smile can hide, her mother is the best example. she hates her cousin by the way she has everything: devoted parents, kind-hearted brother, and all the love she could ever want. she watches leah kiss seth's forehead, so tenderly, and her blood boils. bloody hell, nobody ever did that to _her_. she wants to scowl, but she doesn't. she smiles, so sweetly, and croons: "seth, do you mind helping me with algebra?"  
//  
leah's _fake_.  
that's the first thing emily realizes. they're going to middle school, both girls wearing matching braids, and leah is smiling. happy and refreshed and actually looking forward to making friends. ha! friends? her darling little cousin didn't realize that school was war. bloodshed. a battlefield for girls with their painted faces and pretty skirts. she smirks over at leah and pats her hand in a gesture that could have been consoling if her heart wasn't so cold at that moment. because nobody is ever that happy about _school_ , and leah should stop faking.  
she wonders how she can make the true leah clearwater emerge from hiding.  
//  
 **what?**  
 _impossible!_  
emily shrieks in anger as she leaps out of the bed she'd been relaxing in, ripping her necklace off her neck and throwing it forcefully against the wall. she imagined it was leah's neck which she was snapping, the delicious sound of bones crunching. she stomped her feet against the floor until they ached and her skin turned a pale pink, snarling and spitting. sam uley had asked leah clearwater out. sam uley, the guy she'd been crushing on for _forever_ , had never glanced her way - and gone for her ugly, foul-mouthed cousin! she was so mad she could swear. why did leah get everything? all she had were fancy material things and absent parents. and her cousin, poor and stupid though she was, had so much, so much - and yet, and yet, she kept getting more!  
when was it going to be her turn?  
//  
it's a family gathering, and leah and emily sit opposite each other. leah's finally dropped the bubbly, enthusiastic act she'd put on for so long and is instead devouring her food like a starving wolf. emily's nose wrinkles, and she sighs into her glass of water. her mother had screamed at her the previous night about leah's grades being superior to her own - which wasn't even _fair_ , they didn't even take the same subjects - and her blood boils as she hears seth boast about his darling older sister.  
"well, family," leah smiles as she ruffles seth's hair, making him squeal with laughter, "actually i have news for you - i've got a boyfriend!"  
instantly there is an uproar. everyone whips their heads towards the girl, curious looks and eager questions dropping like bombs all around the living room. and as leah basks in the attention, her expression is one of happiness. and bliss, and joy, and serenity.  
emily hates, hates, hates it.  
//  
exam season, and emily hasn't studied, and leah has offered help but got rejected with a snarl and a slap. she's not accepting help from a crush-stealing slut (although she never actually told anyone of her feelings). however, she _has_ accepted help from seth. she walks over to the clearwater's house to find leah and seth dutifully going over physics notes. she sits down besides seth, getting out her own equipment.  
"oh hey emily. what's the matter? i thought you didn't want help," leah says smartly, highlighting a sentence in the shortest paragraph of the piece of text. emily sticks her nose up in the air and she resists the urge to scratch down her cousin's face. smooth, flawless brown skin unblemished and untouched by that horrid acne which riddles emily's back (she'd die before she admitted that).  
"if you weren't so rude, perhaps i would have accepted the help. as it stands, please let me speak to seth," she grins at her baby cousin and runs a hand through his hair. though he doesn't squeal and giggle the way he does with his sister, he does smile. she considers that a victory.  
//  
emily has come, once again, to visit the clearwaters. she bears a box of muffins for auntie sue, and she hears sam's voice. he's talking to leah - or _lee-lee_ , as he calls her - in such a loving manner that her heart threatens to drop into her stomach. she gulps and kicks the door with her foot (both hands are occupied). as she steps into the living room, she notes sam's eyes slide away from leah's and lock with hers.  
she smiles. that red dress truly did work wonders.  
//  
sam leaves leah the next day.  
emily smirks at leah as she walks off with him, making damn sure her cousin can see the sloppy kiss she places on sam's lips.  
 _i win_.


End file.
